Robot ‘preacher’ can beam light from its hands and give automated blessings to worshippers

A robot 'preacher' that beams lights from its hands and can give automated blessings to the faithful has been launched in the town that gave fame to Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation.

Five hundred years after Luther published the Ninety-five Theses in Wittenberg, kicking off the Reformation, an evangelical church launched a unique automated blessing robot for the special celebrations in the historic town located in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt.

The robot on show in the old town of Wittenberg is called "BlessU-2" and was developed by the Evangelical Church in Hesse and Nassau.

It consists of a metal box with a touch screen, two arms on the side, a head with eyes and a digital mouth at the top.

After the robot wishes users a "warm welcome", it asks them if they want to be blessed by a male or female voice.

It then asks the believer "what blessing do you want", which results in the robot making a mechanical sound as it raises its arms to the heavens and starts to smile.

Lights then start to flash in the robot's arms as it says "God bless and protect you" and recites a biblical verse.

Yet 500 years after Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to a church door in Wittenberg, the robot priest will not replace humans any time soon.

Von Gehren said: "The machine should not replace the blessing of a pastor. In the future there will not be a blessing robot in every church.

Blind Indonesian Girl Refuses to Renounce Christ Despite Beatings from Hindu Family

A blind Indonesian girl who converted to Christianity thanks to the witness of a local missionary refused to renounce the name of Jesus Christ despite continued beatings and threats carried out by her Hindu family.

Persecution watchdog Open Doors USA shares the story of Andria, a 26-year-old girl from Lombok, Indonesia. At just 17 years old, Andria suddenly lost her eyesight due to glaucoma and was thrown into a deep depression.

"I felt that God was not fair," the young woman told Open Doors, explaining that her diagnosis forced her to give up her dream of becoming a writer. "I hated God. I was a devoted Hindu believer. My father was a Hindu priest, and I went to the temple more than anyone else. I did all the Hindu rituals. I even became a radical; I began to hate other religions. That was why I got so angry with God for making me blind. Since then, I never went to the temple anymore."

For four years, Andria lived in despair and cried all the time. However, all that changed one day in 2008, when she met a vegetable seller who told her that 'someone' loved her.

Andria was surprised with those words, and she asked about this 'someone' that the vegetable seller mentioned. In the afternoon, the seller came with a local missionary who shared the gospel with her.

For the first time in her life, Andria felt loved, and a short time later was baptized.

After her conversion, the young woman regularly met with the local missionary, read the Bible, and learned about Jesus. As she learned more about his love, her outlook on life changed.

"Jesus loved me no matter what. If He allowed me to be blind, He has a purpose for it. I did not pray for Him to heal me, because He must have a great plan behind it," Andria said.

Though filled with joy, she was unable to share her newfound faith with her family. Open Doors notes that Hindus have strict rules that punish those who leave the religion for another. Believers from a Hindu background have lost their families, their inheritance, and their place in the village for following Jesus Christ.

"I did not tell anyone about my conversion," Andria recalled. "My father was a Hindu priest and my uncle was also a Hindu high priest. Only my little brother knew it, and he became a believer too, before going to another island for work. I did not tell my mom, because she had separated from my father."

It was clear that Andria had changed, however, even though she didn't speak of her conversion. After discovering she had made friends with Christians and read the Bible, her family beat and threatened her.

"My father would beat me when he gets stress or when he does not have money," she said. "I used to cry out of anger, but now I have changed. Even though he still beats me sometimes, I can show my respect and love as a daughter. I think he also notices the change in me."

Every day, Andria listened to a Christian radio program to help her grow spiritually. The local missionary's regular visits also helped her learn more about the Bible.

"I consider her (the local missionary) my big sister," Andria said. "I really love her. Sometimes, when my father is in a good mood, I go to stay in her house for days, and I learn a lot about Jesus. But when I am home, I call her so she can read to me some verses from the Bible. I listen to a Christian radio station and I learn some encouraging songs. I sing while doing my daily chores."

Andria shared with Open Doors how, because she was the only believer in her village, she was determined to share the gospel with others. Many of her friends started to open their hearts to Jesus after they heard about Andria's testimony. She also shared it with her father whenever she could, despite the risks.

The young woman told the outlet she desires to bring more Hindu believers to Jesus, and most of all, she dreams of her father coming to Christ one day.

"I love my father even though he beats me," Andria said in tears. "I can't leave him alone. He is old now; what if he gets sick? Who will take care of him? I will never leave him no matter how hard it is. I forgive him and I pray that one day he will know Jesus and feel the same joy and peace I feel now."

Hindus make up only 1.7 percent of the population of Indonesia, where 87.2 percent of the people are Muslim and less than 10 percent are Christian. The country is ranked 46th on Open Doors' World Watch List of 50 countries where believers face the most persecution.

Christian Schoolgirl Who Refused to Study Islam Mocked, Ordered Out of Classroom by Muslim Teacher

A Christian girl studying at a school in Pakistan was told by her Muslim teacher that, if she refused to take a class in Islamic studies, she must leave. The teacher also ordered her Muslim students to avoid eating with the Christian girl because of her faith.

According to World Watch Monitor, Muqadas Sukhraj wanted to study Ethics rather than Islamic Studies because of her Christian beliefs.

Sukhraj, one of three Christians in her class of over 100, told outlet that her problems started in early April "when class teacher, Zahida Parveen unnecessarily began creating problems for me and expressing her displeasure with me because I chose Ethics."

"First, the teacher argued over the textbook of the Ethics class. Then she sent me out of the class as punishment. Later, she told me that if I could not study Islamic education, then why do I study in a Muslim school in the first place? She even told me, that, when she comes into the class, I must leave.

"No classmate or any other teacher has ever behaved like this, except this teacher," she said.

Sukhraj's uncle, Munir Nasir, tried to raise the concern with the school and local authorities, but was barred from seeing the principal. He also attempted to take up the issue with Attock district coordination officer, explaining that the teacher also told Muslim students not to eat or drink with Sukhraj. "Rather than addressing the matter, Sukhraj was shifted to evening classes," he added.

WWM notes that Christians in Pakistan's state schools face persistent problems with the content of textbooks.

The 2016 report by Pakistan's National Commission for Justice and Peace said that the government had failed to keep its promise to eradicate religious "hate material" from school textbooks. The research also found that Islamic religious parties have become a pressure group strong enough to prevent education authorities from revising school programs for fear of retaliation and protests.

One educational material discovered by the International Christian Concern talks about "Christian rulers" engaging in a necessary war with Muslims.

"Because Christian rulers were led by fanatic priests, that war with Muslims is necessary for the protection of cross," the material, used for Class 7th Social Studies, said.

Another one for Class 8th Social Studies talked about how Christian pastors "degraded other religions."

"The influence of Christian pastors had increased immensely and they were openly preaching their religion aided by their rule. They freely visit the cities and villages, organized gatherings to describe the qualities of Christianity degraded other religions," the material said.

Amelia Tariq, a Christian student at Punjab University, told Vatican News that that when she was a child she "was mocked by students from the Muslim majority, who questioned my identity. Belonging to a minority makes you feel isolated ".

In her view, it is the government's responsibility "to eliminate discriminatory elements from textbooks and ensure the protection of minority students. Programmes should promote harmony, tolerance, unity and nationalism, as the Fathers of the Nation did."

"This is not only about religious minorities but a national issue," NCJP executive director Cecil Shane Chaudhry said, according to Asia News. "It is a red flag for the government, which must ask the Church to promote the role of minorities in creating and defending the country."